The most fabled city in ancient Arabia was Ubar, described in the Koran as “the many-columned city whose like has not been built in the entire land.” But like Sodom and Gomorrah, Ubar was destroyed by God for the sins of its people. Buried in the desert without a trace, it became known as “the Atlantis of the Sands.” Over the centuries, many searched for it unsuccessfully, including Lawrence of Arabia, and skepticism grew that there had ever been a real place called Ubar. Then in the 1980s Nicholas Clapp stumbled on the legend. Poring over ancient manuscripts, he discovered that a slip of the pen in a.d. 1460 had misled generations of explorers. In satellite images he found evidence of ancient caravan routes that were invisible from the ground. Finally he organized two expeditions to Arabia with a team of archaeologists, geologists, space scientists, and adventurers.

Three thousand years ago, a dusky queen swept into the court of King Solomon, and from that time to the present day, her tale has been told and retold. Who was this queen? Did she really exist? In a quixotic odyssey that takes him to Ethiopia, Arabia, Israel, and even a village in France, Nicholas Clapp seeks the underlying truth behind the multifaceted myth of the queen of Sheba. It’s an eventful journey. In Israel, he learns of a living queen of Sheba — a pilgrim suffering from “Jerusalem Syndrome” — and in Syria he tracks down the queen’s tomb, as described in the Arabian Nights. Clapp investigates the Ethiopian shrine where Menelik, said to be the son of Solomon and the mysterious queen, may have hidden the Ark of the Covenant. Then the “worst train in the world” (according to the conductor) takes Clapp to the Red Sea, where he sets sail for Yemen in an ancient dhow and comes perilously close to being shipwrecked. As in his search for the lost city of Ubar, Clapp uses satellite images, this time to track an ancient caravan route that leads to the queen’s winter capital in present-day Yemen. The quest is bolstered by new carbon-14 datings and by the discovery of an Arabian Stonehenge in the sands of the Rub’ al-Khali. Finally, at the romantic and haunting ruins of Sirwah, the pieces of the queen of Sheba puzzle fall into place.

Mycenæ; a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and TirynsHenry Schliemann : The preface by the Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone Mycenae (Extinct city), Tiryns (Extinct city) New York, Arno Press 1976 Hardcover. lxviii, 404 p. illus., maps. 24 cm. Maps, plans, and other illustrations. Representing more than 700 types of the objects found in the royal sepulchres of Mycenæ and elsewhere in the excavations. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG/VG

Troy and its remains; a narrative of researches and discoveries made on the site of Ilium, and in the Trojan PlainHenry Schliemann : Edited by Philip Smith Turkey Antiquities, Troy (Extinct city) New York, Arno Press 1976 Hardcover. Reprint of the 1875 ed. illustrations. Translation of Trojanische Alterthumer. lv, 392 p. illus., maps, plans, 51 plates. 24 cm. With map, plans, views, and cuts. The text has been translated by Miss L. Dora Schmitz, and revised throughout by the editor.Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG/VG

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Comments Off on From Mycenae to Troy to Sirwah to Ubar an archaeological trek of discovery with Schliemann and Clapp is a trip not to be missed – especially when you can do it in an arm chair in an air-conditioned room.